


Just a smile & the rain is gone

by anisstaranise



Series: is tú mo réalt eolais [5]
Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Basketball, Established Relationship, F/M, Rain, dance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-17
Updated: 2016-11-17
Packaged: 2018-08-31 13:00:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,538
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8579518
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anisstaranise/pseuds/anisstaranise
Summary: It’s a given with them, something forged a while back; they rarely need so many words to hear what the other is saying.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Written for [Snowbarry Week '16](www.simplysnowbarry.tumblr.com): Day 4 - Free Day
> 
> Decided to do some spring cleaning with Snowbarry prompts. These were prompted AGES ago.  
> Words: _rebound_ \+ _dance_
> 
> Title from **Westlife** 's " _I Lay My Love on You_ ".

She tugs at her ponytail once, twice, as her eyes track the game; the squeaks of sneakers hurriedly shuffling along the polished court keeps time with her thoughts as she tries to recollect some of the rules and the various plays that were explained in _Basketball for Dummies_.

She chews on her bottom lip out of habit as she goes through the layout of a court: _Three-point line. Center circle. Free throw lane._ Admittedly, she knows nothing about basketball, has never seen a game in her life save for the occasional glances over Barry’s shoulders whenever she’s at her boyfriend’s house on a game night.

She eagerly follows the movement of the ball being dribbled across the court then passed from one player to another, wholeheartedly committed to knowing the game. She can’t help it; you can’t take the scientist out of her even when she’s out at a basketball game.

There’s a build-up of excitement in the arena as one team heads fast towards their opponent’s hoop and the electricity in the room vibrates through her, too. Soon, she’s excitedly at the edge of her seat, waiting, as a player shoots a free throw.

One side of the arena groans in disappointment as the ball hits the board and bounces away, quickly snatched by the defending team but there’s a delighted holler coming from beside her that echoes the delighted side of the arena at the exact moment she excitedly exclaims, “That’s a rebound! A defensive rebound!”

She looks to her side, smiling proudly after successfully identifying something that’s part of the game- one of the ways a team is awarded a game statistic- to find Barry looking at her, eyes shining with something she perceives as happiness; it’s the first time she’s seen it in a while and she swears her chest could burst with the relief that’s thrashing within.

In being The Flash, Barry is used to speeding through things, including his work as a forensic scientist. But while his super speed has saved precious seconds in time-sensitive cases, he had made an error whilst processing evidence in a racketeering case of an up-and-coming crime family in Central City.

Unbeknownst to Barry, in speedily processing the evidence, he had destroyed it by accident. Needless to say, the case had been thrown out. And now the Rossi family are free to exercise their reign of sovereignty in the shadows- learning, evolving- especially in the matters of eluding the law.

For weeks, Barry has been carrying the guilt.

“Everyone makes mistakes, Barry. Grave ones,” she had said to allay some of his woes.

“It’s not okay, Caitlin,” he had replied, shoulders hunched with the weight of the world.

“I’m not saying it is. I’m saying... _it happened_. You know better now. And you’ll move forward with that,” she had quipped, her words cautious as to not add to the weight on his shoulders. “You know to slow down now, Barry.”

And that’s how she had come to procure two floor seats to a highly anticipated basketball game of the season. She’s familiar with Barry’s worldview of _you win some, you lose some_ and she’s also familiar with the fact that Barry can sometimes dwell on the losses for much longer. So, just for one night, she wants to help Barry slow down, to help him forget the burden of a mistake.

The game ends at 109 – 102, in favour of the team Barry had rooted for. He’s high on the electrifying atmosphere of the arena as they follow the crowd out and she’s right there, riding on the tailcoats of his catharsis.

Barry deserves this reprieve, she thinks. He’s a good man- a good man who happened to commit an error. She knows the burden all too well. There had been a time she had committed such an oversight that resulted in a villainous meta-human’s escape and Barry’s injuries. And she knows the big impact small gestures can have.

“Thank you,” comes Barry’s voice, his tone lighter than it had been in weeks.

“It’s nothing,” she replies modestly.

It _is_ nothing, really, she thinks. This is her small gesture, her way to let him know he isn’t alone- never alone- and that they will get through this- this guilt, this regret, together.

Barry scoffs which causes her nose to scrunch the way it usually does when she’s feeling defensive; it’s a reflex she can’t shake.

“What?” she demands.

“This isn’t _nothing_ , Caitlin,” Barry says, stopping once they’re out of the arena, the rest of the crowd milling out onto the parking lots. “This is everything I didn’t know I needed.”

She casts her eyes down shyly, a warmth creeping up her neck and filling in her cheeks under Barry’s gaze. Such a loving gaze, she thinks. And not for the first time, she’s glad she had finally gathered the courage to give this thing with Barry a shot. She deserves this, deserves Barry.

“You don’t even like basketball-” Barry says.

“I do, too!” she replies rather defiantly, pouting slightly at the accusation.

“-before tonight,” Barry adds with a chuckle. “And yet you got tickets for us to this game, you bought a copy of _Basketball for Dummies_ -”

She gasps in horror. “How did you know about that?”

Barry laughs- light and happy. “You left it on Cisco’s desk the other night. Figured it wasn’t his.”

“I was passing by a used books store and it was just lying there so I bought it for two dollars,” she wants to say but before she can defend herself further, Barry leans in to kiss her lips. It’s light and soft.

It’s perfect.

“Thank you for always standing by me,” Barry says after he pulls away, his gaze holding her in place.

She feels her heart battering against her chest gleefully. Barry makes her happy- something she hadn’t been too sure she’d feel again.

And she’d gladly make Barry happy in return.

“Of course,” she breathes.

“In a way-,” Barry says, a cheeky smile painted on his lips. “-you’re my- _assist_.”

She perks up at the term. She knows this.

“ _An_ assist _is accredited to the player who passes the ball to a teammate in a way that leads to a score_ ,” she recites triumphantly.

A draft blows between them, a low rumble of thunder sounds far away as Barry laughs again, just as light and happy as before. Gracefully, he swoops down to kiss her on the nose.

She delights in the touch of his lips to her skin and lets the word _assist_ wash over.

In a way, yes, she’s his _assist_ \- as much as he’s hers. They’re a team- they’ve always been- at Star Labs, in this relationship.

Barry laces their fingers together as they continue to head to her car and she tucks herself closer to him, carving a space just for her in the nook of his shoulder.

They couldn’t be a yard or two away from her car when it starts to drizzle, the drops of rain getting thicker and thicker by the minute.

Barry’s already ready to pick her up and speed off to the car but she gives his arm a gentle squeeze.

“A little rain never hurt anyone,” she says. _Slow down, Barry_ , she means. _At work. In life. With us._

Barry nods. It’s a given with them, something forged a while back; they rarely need so many words to hear what the other is saying. And he smiles; it’s bright and big but there’s a little sadness in it, too. Barry hears what she means. She knows it’ll take more than a basketball game to soothe the weight of the guilt. It’ll take time. But tonight she’s laid the foundations of the scaffolds that will help carry the weight. She’s his _assist_ , after all.

Music blaring from inside the arena rides along the draft that swirls amidst the rain, dancing around them. She picks out the notes of an Abba classic. Perfect, she thinks.

“Dance with me,” she blurts in the spur of the moment as the rain pelts down.

Their hands linked, she prompts their bodies to sway, oscillating together in the rain. With every alternate tug and push of their hands, she can see Barry’s body relaxing, the rain washing away the form of tense squared shoulders of past weeks, his smile growing wider and wider.

_Slow down, Barry._

For a moment, he pushes her away from him- then gently yanks her to curl into the nook of his shoulder before slowly uncoiling her away from him again.

_You can dance, you can jive,  
Having the time of your life._

The giggles that pour out of her keep time with the pouring rain as Barry- hair darker now that it’s wet, lashes heavy with a drop of rain or two- gravitates towards her and buries his face against the nape of her neck.

“Thank you,” he breathes into her damp curls.

The words are a repetition but its meaning remains solid.

_Thank you for understanding._

_Thank you for never giving up on me._

_Thank you for not seeing me differently after all I’ve done wrong._

She hears it. She hears it all.

She’s his _assist_ , after all.

\---END

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading.  
> Comments welcomed.


End file.
